Vinification and ageing

Maceration with the skins for approx. 10 days depending on the vintage. The alcoholic and malolactic fermentations are natural: no yeast nor bacteria are added. The temperature in the cellar is raised in order to make the malolactic fermentation start. The wine matures for 24 months in French oak barriques (15% new) and it is bottled during the following summer.

History

This estate was established by the Marengo family in 1899. Marco Marengo, the present owner, manages it, very successfully, together with his wife Jenny and his son Stefano, a wine technician.
The vineyard extension is just 6 hectares, but 1.2 hectares are in Le Brunate, a grand cru of La Morra (and one of the greatest crus of the Langhe area) and 1 hectare is in Bricco delle Viole, one of the main crus of the town of Barolo. These two vineyards have belonged to the Marengo family for five generations. The first vintage of Barolo to be bottled with Le Brunate on the label was 1974 while Barolo Bricco Viole was labelled as such starting from the 1997 vintage.
Marco has an extraordinary palate: it was and is quite an experience to taste the wines from the barrels, first in the small and cluttered cellar in the town of La Morra and now in the new cellar that was recently built (the first vintage to be vinified there was 2011).
The philosophy of Marco is to respect what the vineyards give him as much as possible, the work in the vines is more important to him than the work in the cellar.
Apart from the wonderful Barolo Brunate and the Barolo Bricco Viole, Marco also makes a Barolo “base” from four vineyards in La Morra, a Dolcetto d’Alba, a Barbera d’Alba (aged for 10 months in French oak barriques), a Nebbiolo d’Alba (from an old vineyard in the Roero zone) and a Barolo Riserva.